Skin
by AtargatisMoon
Summary: A young man discovers a beautiful sea creature and forces her to become his wife. A classic Selkie story. KenshinxKaoru One-sided EnishixKaoru. Oneshot! Complete! Please read and review! Thank you!


**A/N : Hi! No I am not dead! I'm sorry I haven't updated anything in a while. I know it's unforgivable but my most truthful excuse is that I've just had damn writers block. This hopefully will get me off my ass and back in it. It's a little overwhelming since I have so much I want to do. I need to re-do my Jak and Daxter story and I need to get a move on with Myrrah. Someone say stuff to yank me out of this fog!**

 **I love folklore and and myths. This is a classic, typical Selkie story. Most Selkie stories are tragic. My story is based on one I heard a long time ago. God, I hope no one gets annoyed with this...**

 **I own nothing! Please read and review! Forgive me for any grammar mistakes! Thank you!**

" **Gura mise tha fo éislean moch sa mhaduinn is mi 'g éirigh" - Ailein Duinn**

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Once upon a time, there was a young man called Yukishiro Enishi. Enishi was a successful, well-liked fisherman in a wealthy village by the sea. Surprisingly, the successful and of age man had yet to settle down and select a wife. Having been raised by his elder sister Tomoe, Enishi developed high standards for the woman he would spend the rest of his life with. As he viewed his sister as the ideal woman and harshly rejected the many women who offered courtship but did not measure up. Enishi had earned himself a reputation of being the village's most notorious unattainable bachelor.

After a terrible storm, Enishi traveled far from the village along the shores to collect drift wood when he heard numerous singing female voices. Memorized, he followed the songs and came upon a group of otherworldly beauties playing together atop the sea rocks. They were all so enchanting, but his eyes were immediately drawn to who appeared to be the youngest. An ethereal beauty with long dark hair and eyes like precious sapphires. He had become so enamored by her beautiful voice that he had forgotten to concentrate on remaining completely inconspicuous. His hand slipped on a slick surface and the barest of resonated and one of the elder women had become aware of Enishi's presence.

"A human!" The matriarch bellowed. "Flee my sisters!"

All eyes fell on the intruding man. The sea maidens shrieked and scrambled towards shores to a bolder. They quickly began to snatch up what appeared to be brown cloaks sitting on the boulder. Without thinking, Enishi managed to steal the last cloak before the all maidens and their cloaks vanished beneath the waves. When it appeared to be over, the fisherman stood there for the longest time with the cloak in his hands and his feet rooted to the ground. Had that really happened? Where did the maidens go? How could they survive in water? The sky, the sand and the waves all remained as they were. The only evidence was the brown cloak in his hands. A mud brown with gray speckles. Very smooth to the touch and covered with fine slick hair. How strange.

Promising himself to not tell a soul of what transpired, he placed the cloak securely in his satchel and began his journey home. When the village came into sight, a soft sound began to build behind him. He turned and saw that the beautiful women with sapphire eyes had been following him! She was completely nude, sobbing and making clumsy steps towards the man.

"Return my skin!" she demanded, her beautiful eyes ablaze.

Enishi stopped in his tracks. Here was the exact maiden who captured his attention. She was real and standing before him and somehow more beautiful than before.

"Y-Your skin?" He managed.

"Yes! I cannot return to my home with out it!" She shouted harshly at him. "Give it back!"

She was so spirited and full of life. Her beautiful voice, although angry, was so intoxicating.

"What do you mean?" Enishi asked, unconsciously tucking his satchel and the cloak behind him. "Where do you come from? I've never seen you before in the village. Do you hail from a different land?"

"My home is the sea."

"B-But how can a woman's home be the sea?"

"Please! Just give me my skin!" she pleaded.

"What is your name?" He need to know.

"Kaoru."

He was going to press her for more when the breeze had suddenly picked up. The woman named Kaoru shivered as the icy wind touched every part of her exposed skin. Enishi immediately was by her side. He draped his cloak over her bare shoulders.

"It's cold out here," He grasped her hand and pulled her to his side. "Come with me."

Enishi lead Kaoru through his crowded village to his home, ignoring the curious stares from the neighbors. He let her warm herself by the fire while he feverishly hides her cloak. When he returned he found her memorized by the flames and reaching out to touch them. Acting quickly, Enishi dashed forward and grasped her little hand, pulling her away from intense heat. Kaoru looked at him with confused sapphires and the young fisherman found himself falling deeper in love with her.

"Why?" was all she asked.

"Fire will burn you." He combed his fingers through her dark hair.

"That is fire?!" Her eyes grew wide at the relaxation. It was as if she had never seen such a thing before. She turned back to gaze at the orange and yellow lights. "It is quite pretty." Her curiosity and genuine naivety proved to Enishi that what Kaoru had said earlier was true in a sense. She was definitely not from this world. He provided her with clothing and prepared a meal for her while she watched in fascination. Everything about her was wonderful and perfect. She became distracted with the new world. For several days she explored and experienced all she could with her vibrant personality slowly being revealed. Enishi pleasantly found that Kaoru's independent and forthcoming personality was just as- if not more enchanting than her natural beauty. It was a refreshing change from the usual women he dealt with. Most of them were rather timid, over enthusiastic, or boringly submissive. There was challenge within Kaoru. She was an equal partner and Enishi could not let her go.

To learn more about the object of his affections, Enishi sought the village's soothsayer. From all the young man had told her, she deduced that the creature Enishi had fallen in love with was a Selkie. Intelligent ocean dwelling seals that become beautiful land faring humans once they remove their skins. For years they could traverse the land but ultimately they always return to the sea.

Enishi panicked at this information but quickly discovered that if Kaoru did not have her skin than she couldn't leave him. When Kaoru eventually felt the longing to return to her people, Enishi quickly stole the skin away and simple told the Selkie that he had lost it. Kaoru became frantic and ransacked the fisherman's home with no results.

Unable to return home, Kaoru begrudgingly agreed to remain with the man shackling her. Of course Enishi was overjoyed and quickly adapted to blissful life with her. He was kind to her and gave her everything and anything she wanted. Kaoru appeared happy with the life made for her but when the night fell as did her facade. Knowing full well that Enishi had lied to her, each and every night for the next several years Kaoru would search the house for her skin, but she could never find it. Enishi was always a frustrating step ahead of her. Each night he would change the hiding spot of skin, determined to never let her have it.

Soon Enishi proposed marriage to the beautiful Selkie which she reluctantly accepted. The village praised the radiant couple and everything echoed happiness yet Kaoru always felt that desperately strong pull to the sea.

"Enishi!" Kaoru shrieked as the flames grew greater.

Her husband burst into the kitchen to see his heavily pregnant wife standing far too close to a burning stove. He pulled her to safety and skillfully put out the flames. The cause of it became obvious once the smoke cleared. Oil. Enishi turned to give his stressed wife a smug smile.

"Do not look at me like that," she huffed. Kaoru stomped to Enishi and shoved her cooking utensil in his hands. "I was hungry."

"You shouldn't be cooking at all, love," Enishi chuckled. Despite their years together, cooking was the one homemaker chore Kaoru couldn't master. In fact her cooking was terrible. Enishi feared that if Kaoru ever ate any food she prepared herself it would harm their child. But he could never tell her that. "I've told you before that if you need anything you should come to me."

She shamelessly rolled her eyes. Enishi laughed at her stubbornness and left to get cleaning supplies. When she heard the fading footsteps, Kaoru unconsciously reached out to open one of the storage cupboards. It was all in vain but she couldn't stop herself. There in the daylight Kaoru looked for skin. It wasn't in the cupboard as she already knew. The woman left her throat burn and eyes water. Soon afterwards, Kaoru bore a healthy son. Followed by another boy, two girls, and lastly another boy. Enishi experienced a depth of happiness few humans understood. All the while Kaoru screamed beneath the surface.

Several years later, Enishi took took his children on a short voyage to teach them the basics of his profession. The youngest daughter was forced to stay home with her mother due to a minor injury.

"Mama?" the little girl spoke once her mother finished changing the bandages on his foot. "Papa did something strange last night."

"Oh?" Kaoru murmured, her focus was trying to kill the annoying fly buzzing about her space.

"Yes!" the girl said with a sudden high infection because what she saw truly confused her. So she told her her mother everything. Last night the little 7 year old left her bed to use the bathroom when she came upon her father in their dark main room. The child wondered what her papa was doing up so late and wanted to ask why but something frightened her. Enishi had a uncharacteristically furious expression on his face. The girl had never seen him with such hatred in his usually kind eyes. It frightened her so much so that she remained silent and hidden. All of his anger seemed to be directed at the satchel in his hands. She could hear his fingers roughly gripping the leather material. He then shoved the satchel back in it's place. By this time Kaoru halted whatever nonsense she was doing. She rushed to her daughter and grabbed her tiny shoulders.

"W-Where?! Where did he place the satchel!?" Kaoru demanded with fervor. "Show me!"

The child was confused at her mother's sudden mood change but did what she was told. She pointed towards the underside of a nearby bookshelf. Kaoru released the child and practically flew towards the spot. When she reached out, her hand returned with the satchel she so desperately desired. With excited tremors shooting up and down her whole body, Kaoru opened the bag Enishi carried with him that fateful day and finally found her seal skin.

Kaoru turned to her daughter and placed a grateful kiss on her forehead. "Thank you, child." And with those final words and no absolutely hesitation, she ran from the house. Happy tears and laughter trailed her as she fled the village and ran towards the ocean. She placed her skin over her human body and dove into the deep salt water where a male seal awaited and embraced her lovingly.

Enishi returned to his house to find his wife missing. When he couldn't find her on the property, he decided to recruit a group of comrades to search the surrounding areas. For days they looked but found no trace of her. The search party was called off after a month and Enishi returned to with no answer for his children. So devastated by the loss of the woman he loved, Enishi's heartache manifested with his once dark hair turning pure white.

Some time later, Enishi sat alone miserable in his boat on the water. Sounds of water breaking caught his attention and he turned to see a pair of beautiful seals a few meters from his boat. He should have ignored them since he had seen plenty of seals but he couldn't look away from them.

Suddenly one of the seals removed the skin atop it's head revealing beautiful long dark hair and eyes of sapphires. The seal next to her did the same and showed his handsome scarred face framed by red hair and eyes of amethyst. Enishi felt his heart explode within his chest at the sight of them. Her wondrous blue eyes gazed into his and she smiled.

"Goodbye Enishi!" Kaoru waved. "I did love you but I love my Selkie husband more!"

The two seals than disappeared beneath the sea foam. The withered fisherman was left stunned. This new emotional wound festered in his mind and sprouted delusions that Kaoru would return to him.

She did return but not in the way he wished for. On a rainy day Enishi returned to find his house completely empty and his and Kaoru's children were gone. With the Selkie blood flowing through them, they willingly followed their beloved mother to the sea where they remained. The once arrogant and prideful but now broken man never saw them again.


End file.
